Outfund is changing how business finance works, with a flexible funding model that makes things simple.

• At Outfund, we specialize in providing fast and flexible financing. We support businesses and startups with quick capital, enabling them to seize market opportunities in a fast-paced environment. Our unique approach helps companies enhance cash flow, negotiate better supplier terms, and invest in growth without the friction of traditional financing.
• We understand how important it is to have cash flow capacity to seize opportunities and focus exclusively on business potential.
• "It has helped us improve cash flow quickly and negotiate discounts with suppliers for early payments." - Constanza Sariago (CFO Sepiia)
• For more details, visit Outfund.

Startup funding news 💸

• Elche-based PLD Space obtained a €31.2 million loan from Santander, EBN Banco, and the ICO to advance its Miura 5 rocket. The first launch is planned for late 2025, with commercial operations starting in 2026
• Barcelona-based Shalion, a company that does data analysis for the retail and ecommerce sector, raised €5 million from Seaya
• Murcia-based biotechnology company Viva in Vitro has closed a funding round of €1.3 million led by Murcia Emprende
• Other rounds of funding:
• Hello.app: €500k, web3 alternative to centralized cloud storage providers
• Toteemi: €440k, sports + gamification
• FlamAid: €250k, “peaceful grenade”

M&A activity 🎊

• Elche-based PLD Space obtained a €31.2 million loan from Santander, EBN Banco, and the ICO to advance its Miura 5 rocket. The first launch is planned for late 2025, with commercial operations starting in 2026
• Barcelona-based Shalion, a company that does data analysis for the retail and ecommerce sector, raised €5 million from Seaya
• Murcia-based biotechnology company Viva in Vitro has closed a funding round of €1.3 million led by Murcia Emprende
• Other rounds of funding:
• Hello.app: €500k, web3 alternative to centralized cloud storage providers
• Toteemi: €440k, sports + gamification
• FlamAid: €250k, “peaceful grenade”

Investor & accelerator news 🚀

• The European Investment Fund (EIF) has invested €350 million in Kembara Fund I FCR, managed by Mundi Ventures, serving as an anchor LP. This fund, with a target size of €1 billion, will focus on deep tech and climate-related projects. This investment is part of the European Tech Champions Initiative to boost high-potential tech startups and drive digital transformation in Europe. The core geos of the fund will be Germany, Spain, France and Sweden. More info here
• CREAS announced an initial close of around €40 million for its new fund. The fund aims to reach €70 million and has the participation of institutional investors such as the European Investment Fund (EIF) and ICO, and others. The fund aims to support companies with social purposes in areas such as education, inclusive employment, care for vulnerable individuals, and regenerative models to mitigate climate change
• Profile of EQT Ventures, the Swedish investment firm that has backed the likes of idealista and Freepik in Spain
• At Kfund we announced the appointment of Juanjo Mostazo as our first CTO. Juanjo, co-founder of Homa Games, Bidmotion and with experience as an angel in over 150 companies, will lead our technical efforts at Kfund, as well as the technical analysis of potential portfolio commpanies. Juanjo has been involved with us for more than 2 years, and the work he’s done to help both us and our portfolio companies has been remarkable. We published this interview with Juanjo, where he explains what the CTO of a VC firm does
• Spanish VCs investing abroad:
• Inveready led a €3 million round in Swiss text analysis startup Caplena
• Cardumen participated in the $16 million round of Israeli startup Nagish
• Cemex Ventures invested in Australian carbon capture company KC8 Capture Technologies

Startup news 💡

• Kinnevik has reduced the valuation of Jobandtalent by 27% to €1.4 billion, citing “flattened growth trend”. Kinnevik says in its last report that JT “services many e-commerce companies with its work marketplace, and has been impacted by retailers facing a significant slow-down in growth in consumer demand. While the company has made strong improvements in profit margins over the last year and a half, these improvements are not sufficient to offset the significant negative value impact caused by a flattened growth trend in turn exacerbated by peer multiple compression”
• Analia Plaza did a story on rise and fall of Meneame, and the struggles it has always had to monetize its user base: “Menéame, en venta: por qué el Reddit español nunca despegó y busca quien lo compre por 200.000 euros”. The owners of the site recently announced that they’re looking to sell the business, for a minimum price of €200k
• Indexa Capital now has more than 80,000 customers
• PropHero, a proptech startup focused on investing in rental properties, has achieved its first operating profit (EBITDA) and expects to reach €25 million in revenue this year. The company, which operates in Spain, Australia, Indonesia, and now Ireland, has seen its first-half revenue rise to €15 million, a 50% increase from 2023
• Also in the proptech world, Brickbro, a startup specializing in real estate transactions, aims to exceed €100 million in transaction volume this year and expand internationally
• Typeform announced “Typeform for Growth”, a “new suite of capabilities to help companies grow” and influence their GTM strategy. CEO Joaquim Lecha wrote about it here and here. In the latter, Joaquim talks the current status of Typeform, with 150k paying clients, less than 300 employees and a distributed workforce
• Crescenta successfully closed its first private equity fund in Spain, raising €25 million. The fund, Crescenta Private Equity Growth Top Performers I, aims to invest in high-potential tech companies. The strong demand led to the fund's expansion from an initial target of €15 million to €25 million. Crescenta is a Kfund portfolio company. More info here. CEO Ramiro Iglesias was interviewed in this podcast
• Delivery Hero's shares fell after the company announced a potential antitrust fine. The German food delivery company, which owns Glovo, flagged the risk of a substantial penalty related to competition law violations. The potential fine would be for "alleged anti-competitive agreement to share national markets, exchanges of commercially sensitive information and no-poach agreements". More info here
• La Gran Familia Mediterránea (LGFM), the delivery business by chef Dani García, has reported a debt of €12.2 million. The company, which entered bankruptcy proceedings, attributes its financial difficulties to high investments in packaging design and advertising, and a target audience that shifted their consumption habits post-pandemic. LGFM is a Kfund portfolio company
• Cabify has partnered with Polestar to expand its electric vehicle (EV) fleet in Barcelona and Madrid
• Openfort announced Ecosystems, a new product for gaming ecosystems that aims to address challenges in managing multiple games within a single web3 ecosystem/chains=
• Ivan Caballero, the founder of Citibeats, a startup leveraging ethical AI, announced the shutdown of the company after 8 years. Lessons learned include the lack of product-market fit, the difficulty of creating a new category, challenges in the AI industry, and the lack of investment in Spain

Big company news 🏦

• Inditex announced a minority investment in US-based sustainable cotton startup Galy, which cultivates cotton in a laboratory. This is Inditex's third investment related to sustainability. More info here and here
• Amazon has added Bizum as a new payment method in its online store in Spain
• Google has appointed Lino Cattaruzzi as the managing director for Spain and Portugal
• Acciona has launched a new data center business unit, with Amazon as its largest client in Spain. This move leverages Acciona's renewable energy capabilities

Interesting reads 🤓

• Overview of the Basque startup and technology ecosystem, by El Referente
• Jorge Galindo, co-founder of 47Degrees, published “The Impostor Syndrome After Selling Your Company”
• José Ramón Pérez Agüera, CTO of Mercadona Tech, published a post on being data-driven vs. data-informed
• Virginia Diego, head of product at Cobee, wrote “Cómo hacer experimentación en Producto y no generar ni un solo euro”

Podcasts 🎧

• 20 Caminos interviewed Ismael Canal, design director at Secture
• SeedRocket interviewed Salvador Lora, co-founder of Kampaoh
• Itnig did a podcast on how Factorial does product reviews
• Historias de Crecimiento interviewed Alicia Zurita, of Lubets